The Massachusetts Resolutions

We nre ndebted to Mr. McClelland for reports of the severnl mcmbeis of the Commit tee on thjs subject, all bonnd toelher, making 121 pag-es. These are all written with en re. Our limits wil! not pprmit their publication eniim, but we were desirous that our readers should have a correo idea of ihese several re ports; nnd with considerable labor, we havenrepared a brief synopsis of the most essen - tal points of eacli. Tliis committce of nine comprised men of the bost nbilifiep, nf both partjes, from every soction of the Union; and tbeir reporls are well wriïlen. A knovvledge of the present views of such men, on so important a subject, carcfully 'written, cannnt fai! to be desirub e ín Liberty men. The séntences n quotations are the langunge of the writers. The ïtalicizing is ours. The first report is that of Me-srp. Adams and Giddinnr.-. The second eentence tíavs that "it is not, af this time, expedient to recoin?neii(l the ampndment to the Constitution proposed by. the Legislature, of Massachusetts.'' Well, wliy not, at this üme"1. Uit not needed now? They propose to adjourn its consideratioii to the first Monday ofceraber ñext. "jext time the rata! precedent wil! plenrf' - and tlms it may be indefinirely posfioned. Thus it seems tbere a not a man in Congceas who ia Tor the rmmediate aboli - tion of' the represéntation of Slave Property. Do we not need a Liberty pnrtyí Especially is tbis proposed delny inconsistent in Mr. Adams w bo, in bis great Oedham speech, pioclaimed to all - "I Wttsh ïoü to understand, as mv t&bL1 INGS, THAT THE qUESPlON OF BLAVERT, AND. MOST PARTICOtARLT, THB QUESTION ABOUT TUK UOMINATION OF THE SLAVK REPKKSENTaTIOW., which ovbrbürdbks us all, is tuk great question o. which yoür listërests ark comcehnkd in tük government of tue u-mtkd States." The report contends that the Slave Represéntation 1. Isrepugnant tothe first and vital principies oF republictni popular rcpresentation :%, Tu the selfevident trulhs prodajmec ia the.Declaraiion of Indepcndence: 3. To the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States: to the spint, be cuuee the transcendant object of that instrument was the nltainmeni of the blessings o! Liberty, and this element of power bestowed on one species of wealth is gloritigly inconsistent with that object: áJso, bècause it e.xpress ly prohibits titles of nohiliUj, thus inteding to prohibit nobility itself, or any priviieged class of men; yet what cluss of nobility were ever invested with such fin odions and nnjust privilege, as that of the exclusive representaof sla ves In Congress? It it is opposed to the letter of the Constitution, because that instrument provides that the House shnll be composed of mêmbers represent inr persons. 4. Slave Representation is oppoeed to the letter and spirit of be Constitutions of nearly every Siaie. 5. It is opposed io the Hberties of the ivliole people of all the Free States, nnd of iIJ the peuple of the Slave States, except the ilave owners. The Houee oí Reprepentaives consisfs of '22S memberp, of whom 83 epresent the persons of those whó elect them, ind mIso their propeny in Uvo and a half milion? of slnves. "Eacli of these 88 members 'epresent in faet, the whole of that rñass of issociated wealth, and the persone and ex-.lusive üiterests of its owners, all thus knit oether, }]k.e the member of a mo neyed Corporation, with a capital, notof thirty five, or 'forty, or fifty, but of twslve hundred millions of dollars, exhihiting the most extroorJinary excmplification of thecan lenuencies or weaitn mat tne worlfl eveí saw." The great mass of the slave population is held by the hoiders of land. In such a community, the first effort of tbe slcveholders and kndholders will bo to engross&U polïtical power to thecnselves; and they will, in their form of government, confino the right of snffrnge to freebolders. {Lp" "The candidates for the suffrn cros of the people wil! all be of the slaveholding1 class; and the representative body, the depository of power, wil! all be of the snme privileged clase." lSy this:proces8 it is that.al) politieel power n the States is absorbed and enprossed by the owners of slavrs, and the overruling policy of Ihe States is shaped to streng-tfieniind consolídate their domination. The Le-istative, Exccutive, and Judicial authorities are all in their hands - the presentation, propagation, and perpet uation of the black code of -slavcry - evory law of tbeLegislature bccomes a link in the chain of the slave; every Execirtive act arivettohis hapless fate; every Judi cial decisión a perversión of tbe human intellect to the justification of wrong. The Governor of snch a Stafe will teli you, with a frown, thac the institiüion of slavery is the comer-stone to the temple of Liberty. The Chancïllor of such a State will decree, that the pelf-evident truths are the orndments of he Declaration of Independence. 4It is by the same process that this invention introduces into the House of Representativos, 38 nienibers out of 223, representing- ostensibly all the elaves, but really all the otvners of slaves, and tho whole raass of their prtperty in slaves, estimated at 12,00mimóos 01 dollars. Here is one class of men, convisting of not vciore than onè forüeth part of. the whole people, not more than one thirtielk part of the free population, exciusiyely devoted to thoir personal interests, identified wilh their own as skveholders of the same associated weali.h, and vvieldino; by fheir votes, upon every question of g-overnment or of public policy, twofftïis of the whole power of the House." OCf "In the Senate, the proportion of the slaveholding power ia ycl grcater. liy the inftiience of slavery in the States whrre the institution is rolerateed, over their elecUons, NO OTHKR THAN A SLAVIÜIOX.DER CAN RrsE TO THE DÍStTÑCTIOJI Oí' OBTAINING A SEAT IN TflK Sbnate; and thui--, of the 52 members of the Federal Senate, 2G are moners of .laves, and fis effectively representatives of that inreret as ihe 83 n-:embersof elected by them to 'Jie Hoiise." The whole free population of the free States is 9,708,922. Th .whole . free population of the slav; Stales is 4,3L5,531.lilis minonty of one to two, the report saya "lias confinueil to enirross at le:itt four FiïTHë of all the officers of the Union, high and low. from the President of the United States down:'' and it has done this under the power of thé ehattel representaron. "Al day, the President of the United JSiaies, the President of Uie Senate, tho Speaker of die House of Renresentatives, and five out of nine of tho Juds of the Stipreme Judicial Courts of the United States, are nol only citïzens of the SlveboI(Jing States, bulare individual Slavcholders themselves. So are, end constnntly have heen, with scareely an exception, all the mémbers of both Hovses nf Congres from thé Slavekolding' States, and -o are, in imruensely (ïi."prouortionateniimbers, the comtnunding officers of the Army and Navy; the oflücors of the Customs; the Regii? tors nnd Receivors of the Land Offices, nnd Ihe Postmasters tliroughout the Slaveholding States. Tl)e Bienniul Register indicates the birth plnce of all the ofiicers employed in the government of the Union. If it were required to dositrnate the owners of this species of property among them, it would be little more tlian a catalogue of SlavehoJders." The r-port tijen speaks of the -mínense power wieldeo by the Speaker of the House, ïfiti of the factthat this office is now entirely engrossed by Slaveholders. It then discu3se9thecon8titiitional questipn, ind declares that "t is a grave and gratuitouserror to assume that the Constitution of the United States ncknowledges Sluves to be property." . This spirited and oble report, however, winds offwith expres6Íñg the belief that "the peitpte and Leginiature of Massachusette will üe satisfied, for the present, with thoeniission of their wáming voice, and the freo exposition of th'e reaeons by which it has been prompted," and recommends that the 6ub-: ject be postponed lo December next." "O what afall vvns there, my countrymen!"' - Whaf. is a "warning voice" wortb, unlegB iblowed by pro mpt action7 Is this the proper oction of reformers7 It is Jess thañ a year since Mr. Adams publicly declared that this very Slave represeotatiou in his opinión, was "thk GKKATEVIL WHICH OVERBURDENS US ALL;"' and when the people of his own State tnake an effort to remove thie great ovil, and it is fairly before Copgross, he ís for its consideratíon ahother year! . Thesécorid report is that of Mr. Gilmer, of Virginia, in behalf of himself and Mr. Burt, of South Carolina. He takes the ground that tle Constítution, in all ite features, was a oompromise of opihions, interests, and pre - udices, and the plan of representation is espcially so. The power of attaining these provisions, by amendment, is limited. A proposilion to establish a monarcliy, for inslance, or a particular form of religión, cannot proprly be eff(?cted by three-fourths, or any other porlion of the States, in as níucli as they are subversive of i!somc principie of imylied sanclily which lies deeperthan the foundation of the ConBlmuipn itself." The power of the Slaveholding States ín Congress, instond of increasing, is steadily declining, as wül be aeen by the following table:Date. No. Rep. Rcps. from Per Cent sla ve slatcs. 1790 106 49 46,2 1800 142 65 46, 1810 183 79 48, 1 1820 213 90 42,2 18:30 L42 100 41,3 ICIO 223 88 39,4 - If th$ change in New Jersey from a Slave to a F ree Stato be considered, the decreasè of 'heir weight in the House has been from more than half lo lesB tban twofifths. In thc Senater too, they once had IC out uf 50 votes; novv they have but 26 outof .r2. "Since DeJaware has passed a law for the gradual emancipation of her Slaves, the preponderance of the nontlaveholding States in both Ilouses inay spon be greater than it is at present." Mr. Gilmer meet? the objection of "proper ty representntion," by saying thnt Slaves are persons aa well as property. The fact that they do not go the polls and vote is no gooi reason why theyshould nol be represented in Cengress. In 1730, a property qualification was adopted in Massachusetts, which contined 40 jMarB, by which, perbaps, oñe fourth of her citjzens were debarred the elective franchise. A proposition to dimini.-fh the represen - tation of Massachusetts in Congres?, on this account, would have been resented by her as an insult. Ths population of a StBte, and not that portion of it which votrs, is the just standard of rep'csentation. It is troe, that slaves do not vote. Neitherdo woraen or minors. Yet these are enumerated in the apportionment of representaron. . Where, then, shall be the limit? The only i difference is one of degiee, not of kind. Massachusetís denies politica! power to, perhaps, four-fifths of all her population: Virginia to geven -eighths of hers. The report then goes on to twit Massaohuseüs of the Hartford Conventionaffirms the inferiority of the negro race - alludea to amalgrimation os a n object of Ábolilionists - and wonders what shall be doue witb the negroes after they sball be turned loóse. It concludes with recommending a non-concurrence in ihe mensure -Tpposed, and a reaelntion declaring that we will redeern the pledge mnde by our fatíiere to support all the provisión of the Con8titntion, With "our livesj our fortunes, and our sacred honore." The third report is fiom J. R. Ingersoll, of Peunsvlvaiiüi, in behalf of himself and Garrct Díivis, of Kenrucky, both Wliigs. They fake the ground tfmt the power to amem does not itnply the power to change funda mentally the instrument amended, as wouk be the case if the slave representation wer nbolished. The report then goes over tJi framing of Ihe Constitinion - adduces the al ledged slavery established by Aloses as a defcnce of American slavery - and compares the ÁoolUibn eoterprise to the Crusades and Iuquisition. If Uie Slave States do exert a preponderating power, it is on account of tho forcé rft their unión. VVere the proponed meas ure adopted, t!ie 88 Southern membere wonld only be diminished lo 67, and theír coale?cencewoiild bè mcreased rat her thati uiminished. - Theii power in the Sonate voiild remain the snme. Tlie actual influence of these States would nèt be materially Icssened. As to the Declaration of Independence, "if the seif-evident t.ruths are construed as extendiiig- to the personol condition of evtnj wdtvidual of the familj of mankind, all history denies the nssertion, and disproves tlie supposed position of the wisc men who uttered them. Equaüty could not be asserted any vvhere with regard to bodily or mental powers, or tlie opportunities or meana Kor exercising them. The lenderest of domestic ties - that which subsists between those whom God hath joined together, and the universal condition of the femalo sex in civilized as weJI ns savage life - mnnifest personal inequaüty and actual stibjection." "Before and after the Declaration of independence was communicated to the world, practices were universally prevaleni Lhat were at variance with the interpretation now given of ita tering.tjsements are to be found in tile Massachusette Gazeltes, ofierin human beíngrf for safe, and rewards for the recovery of those who had escaped Trom their masters. Several of theee advertiseraents are inewted in a note at the end of thie report. One of them occupie3 a part of the safne sheet which publishes the D?claration of ïndependence." "The Virginia Declaratíon nf Rightp, (udopted June 12, 1776) áffirms, "that nll men are by nnture, eqnally free nnd independent, Sec," nnd sc of most of the States. So of those declarations which 6ay that all politicaJ aulhority is derived from the pecple, kc.r' 'It wouid be difficult to connect these propositions With the class of slove?, tchich. waa obviotialy not in vieto of those ivko adopted them, akhough the language be comprehensive enough in o;ie sehse! to embrace thein all." Adnms and Pranklrn, in 1783, associated with ono of the truest patriots, and among the most sensitive and cautious statesman of theday, os to the particular subject, vindicated the righU of the American inhabilants in coltred persons as PRopRRTr. Did Ihe&e men eet their seals to their own self-condemniition, and the condemnation of their conntrymen? Did they then henr l&unts from theif foreign coKlaborers in the work of negotiation, that the pledges of their nation, as it had justifico or fixcused itself to "a candid world," were for feited; or that they had already forgbtten their professions of "a decent respect for the opiniona of mankind?" [The trfiaty of peace witb Great Brifain is here referred to - the seventh article of which provided, that "his Britianic Majesty jshall, with all convenient speed, and without cavsing any destmetion,or carrying away any negroes, or vtktr property of the Jlmerican inhabitants, withdraw his vinies," &c.] The report concludee with an expresaion of the importance of main taining unimpaired tfiifc compromise of the Constitution. The fourth report is by Mr. Burke, of New Hampshire, a Democrat of the Atherton School. His report starts with this proposition: "The resolution of the Legislature of the State of Massnchusetts involves a proposition of no Jess magnitude and importance than a violalion of óne of the fundamental and ex press conditions of the ConttituUon, without the insertion of vvhich in that instrument, it would never have been aesented to and adoptad by the States; and the expurgation of which from it. will, in the belief of, the under62ncd, be foJJowed by the subversión of the Co)istitvtion itself; the .dis$olnlion of the Union, and alJ ihe polilical and social disasters and calamities which muet necesari)y resült from such an event." Mr. Bui ke g-oes ínto a hiatory of the Constituíion, showing thnt"it is a compact of political copartnership between the states as eovereign and independent bodies," and its cbarocter would have been the same bad the preamble road, "We, the States," instead of "We, the People." Ours is not "a form of Government adnpted by the people as individuals,' and henee, "the Iang-uage of the preamble cannot determine the form of Government which follows." Mr. B. said th'eire were four express cornprbmises in the Constitution, the Slave r'epresentation, the importation of Slaves, the return of fiigitives, and the equal representation of the States in the Senate.There were also, implicd conditiona of the C'oustitution, equally potential, sacred, and obligatory - as, that a republicnn Government shall not be abolished, nor the inalienable rights of individua's inraded. The power of amendmept is limited. "Three-foortbs. of the States cannot expunge Oom it the great compromises or conditions comained in that instrument in relation to slavery. If they were to do it, tt would be an infraction of compact j which would abeolve the States iuterested in that iuatitution from all obhgation to abide by and support the Conslilution, and therefore, it would opérate as a. diasolution of the Uiiion." So of the abolition of trial -by jury, the right to bear arms, Sic., by anment oí three-fourtlis of the States - the remaindér vvonld not be bound to abide by the ConBfitiition. Mr. B. then refers to repeated nttempts of a portion of' the people of Massachii6etta to disorganize the Union. He quotes n. resolution of the Hartford Convention in IÖT4 of the name import with the measure now proposed. Finally, he contende that Massachusetts Jias nothing to gain by the project. - "The emnncipation of the SJaves wouid I dtice among them (the Free States) a vnsl number of competiiors for labor. This competition wouid necessanly deprecíate the wages of labor, and thus woufd the free white iaboring rnan be deprived, to a considerable extenf, of the means of obtaining a subsistence for himself anJ fnmily, and the inevitaile consequer.ee would be, his degradntion to the condition of his black convpelilor f ar 1bor.' Mr. B. concludes by fi thrust at the Massachusetts statesmen for be'mg the retidy apologists of Grent Britain, lHhe natural enemy af tficir own country,1' and the leader in "the ar.atical crtisade of the world" ngiïnst itt ntègrity, indepencience, and existence. This report of Mr. Burke displays i rabie ability, but it makes oue indignan t to read such n display of dough-faceism - so ibsolute, voluntary, and servile. The fifth report is by Mr. Somple, of ind., a Whig. He affirms that slavery is an evil, bit it is not. worth while to alter the Constitution to be rid of it. We should rather trust to a grncious Providence, which bas hitherto smiled on us, to pomt out the way for its removal. The amendmant is impracticable, be:ause ic wíll not be adopted; and i f it should )e, it would produce a dissolution of the Union.He -records the quettkn, bmw.vrr, au one of cxjtedtency rnerely The right to amend, as proposed, he doss not doubt. "The títifá claute of the aecond section oí nrticle first, sy that "representativos aud direcl tnxes hall be apportioned tmong the several States," fcc. Nuw, if this clauee ib amendub!ein regard lo taxalun, (which s conceded by the 5th artielej) wlierein is it not anetidab!e )n renard to repreuntalion? 'Yhty br.th stond prccisely on the same footin, and are of conree, snbject to the eame control." The Jxth report is by Mr. Morse, of Maine, a Whig. TbÍ6 report concedes the power of Congresa to make the propoeed amendment, and the anti-repubJícan character of the Slave representation; but declines recommendingthe amendment, because it will produc only rancorouo feelings while it wíl] accomplish not hing. In the House, the Slave States have 88 members- 14 over one third; and in the Senate, the ölave and Free States are eqnally divided; consequentlr, an abandoument of the Slave represen tation must be sanctioned by nine Senators and 14 Repcesentntives from the Slave Statee; and it cañnot be expected they wiU voluntarily Telmquish power. "77id spint of slavery th'irsis for power; and, instead of up a principie so adverse to the nature of republicah institutjons, it seeks to extend Hb influence by limiting and narrowing down the right of petition, by the acqnisition óf foreign territory to increase the Skveholding power in Congresc, and to gnin local advantagea by shnr.klinor t.hf nnnctirntirtn "Mr. Morse meets the ohjection about the compromisos of the OonstUtition In a putfactory marnier. A mere verbnl underetnnding of the members that frained that instrument, even though digiiified with tiie nmc of "compromise," has no binding forcé on us The whole Constitution is but the result of mony compromises, and if any one of them presenta nu impassnble barrier to atnendments, so must the othere in a proportionale degree. This región of compromi'scs is a región oí doubt and drirkness and nncertarnty. A compromise, or verbal understanding of the fra mers of the Constitution, is an obligalión held by Sonthem men, to be higher and more tacred than the instrument itself. lSuch a doctrine is too abatract ond theoreïical o gainconfidence in any secüon of the Union' The report speaks of the slav'e represei)tation in strong tcrms a& being unjustand lyranmcol ín íts effects. "This extra representa tion is nol based on any just or admitted principies, but Is an arbitrary gift to the Slaveholding Stfites, of 21 sènts on the floor of the House of Representatives, moie than ll;ey are onfuled to by their weight of numbers, or'free populaiion. South Carolina, for example, uith n "ree populntion of 2t37.36ü, bas seven Repreentativës in Congresp; while Maine, with a )opulation of 501,793, has on1.y the same nuniMr. Morse then vindicates the right of pctition, and proceeds in cor.demnation of Slavcry in the stmngesi tenns, a3 unjnst, íno'üman, at war with tbe nature of man, witíi patriotism, wíth porc piula nthropy, witli the law.of nature, and vvi'tfa tho elernal interestí-of the Slare. Tfe reprobates the eiistence and sanclion of Slavery and tbe Slave Trncle in the Federal District, as a grievonce to the people of the Free States; and concludes vi(h expressing his fuil conviction of tïie specdy pxtinction of Slavery from our land and fruí tbe wor!d.